Rechargeable Mg batteries are a promising post-Li-ion
battery technology,
but their development has been critically hampered by the passivating
nature of Mg, particularly in aqueous solutions. Due to a quick dismissal
of its reversibility, the use of Mg anodes in aqueous electrolytes
has been overlooked, and most researchers focus on nonaqueous systems
instead. In this work, reversible, aqueous Mg battery chemistry has
been realized for the first time, via the conversion of its impermeable
passivation film to a conductive metallic oxide complex, facilitated
by Cl– regulation and the suppression of the hydrogen
evolution reaction using a MgCl2 water-in-salt (WIS) electrolyte.
When coupled with copper hexacyanoferrate as the cathode, the full
battery exhibits an impressive voltage plateau of 2.4–2.0 V
and a stability of over 700 cycles with a Coulombic efficiency of
up to 99% at 0.5 A g–1. Mg dissolution and deposition
have proven reversible in the aqueous MgCl2 WIS electrolyte.
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